My project needs 1 Gems fingerprinting kit, 1 Math Mysteries book, 1 set of fingerprint posters, 1 fingerprint poster, and 1 set of 5 minute mystery books.
I teach fifth grade at a new (one year old) school in southwest Austin. What is so wonderful is that the newness has not worn off yet. I have always started the year off with a review of science process skills, such as hypothesizing, collecting data, and making conclusions with mini experiments. Each year a new group of fifth graders comes through my classroom ready to learn. But so many MYSTERIES remain: who are these students, what are they like, and what are their interests? My students probably wonder what fifth grade will be like and what MYSTERIES need to be solved about their new teachers. What better way to spark an interest in this new year, each other, and the new things in store for the coming year than solving a MYSTERY.
With a generous contribution from donors, I would be able to create a Mystery unit... "Crime Lab." I would present a "mystery" to be solved by my Science/Writing students (80 of them). I would incorporate reading various mystery stories, learning about the parts of a mystery (characters, suspects, alibis, red herrings, and detectives), and using the GEMS fingerprinting kit and posters to practice fingerprinting techniques to better solve the "crime." The students would work in crime teams, collecting evidence and recording data in journals. During this time, the students would write their own stories, publish them on the computer and bind them for school display.
Each student, from the slow learner to the gifted student, would benefit from this exciting unit. It would be a fun and enriching way to practice science skills (necessary for the Spring TAKS test) and writing skills. It would also be exciting to work in cooperative learning groups toward a common goal, while bonding with the other new students and me. My two teaching partners would handle the reading, social studies and math components. Students would read about different detectives from different countries, write book reports, create slideshow presentations, and practice deductive reasoning by solving math problems.
At the conclusion of this unit, the fifth grade classes would host an open house for other grade levels and parents, sharing what they have learned. With your help, our fifth graders will have a Magical Mystery Tour of Learning during their last year of elementary school and create memories to last a lifetime. ~
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